


The Old Ticker - Day 5

by Riddlebird-puff (hobbitpuff)



Series: Nygmobblepot Week 2018 [5]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Chubwald, Cuddling & Snuggling, Frenemies with Benefits, Future AU, M/M, Nygmobblepot Week 2018, nygmobblepotweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 11:05:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14055594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hobbitpuff/pseuds/Riddlebird-puff
Summary: Nygmobblepot Week 2018Day 5: CuddlingOswald receives medical news that may change his frenemies-with-benefits relationship with the Riddler forever.





	The Old Ticker - Day 5

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This fic was written as part of the Nygmobblepotweek 2018 challenge. And so was written under a time restraint. Please forgive any grammar and structural errors you might find.

Edward kisses his mouth, bites his bottom lip until Oswald swears he can taste blood. And pushes him backwards onto the bed.

 

He falls on top of Oswald, careful to keep off of his bad leg. He quickly unbuttons Oswald’s shirt and begins to nibble and suck on his now bared throat.

 

Oswald rips the ridiculous green bowler from Edward's head and pushes up the long sleeved spandex shirt until Edward finally pulls away long enough to pull it over his head and throw it on the floor.

 

He allows himself a moment to run his hands across Edward’s still slim chest. There is a fresh bruise on his rib cage from the latest run in with the Batman. And the once dark hair on his chest is now dusted with white and gray strands. But the other man has kept himself in shape, unlike him.

 

Oswald tugs Edward down by the back of the neck for another kiss. He uses the tip of his tongue to part the man’s mouth, and Edward meets every stroke of tongue with his own.

 

They had failed as partners. They had even failed at enemies. But this unspoken thing they had always been good at.

 

Oswald clutches Edward’s waist and the man giggles against his lips. He wonders how many other rogues know of the Riddler’s weakness of being ticklish. He tugs the tight spandex pants down far enough until Edward is able to kick them off, and the rogue wears nothing under.

 

He places his hands on Edward’s ass, which is just as firm as it was twenty years ago, and Edward thrusts against him, grinding against Oswald’s still clothed groin.

 

But Oswald feels nothing, even though he can feel Edward’s half hard cock against his own.

 

Sensing nothing amiss, Edward pulls his tongue from Oswald’s mouth and begins to kiss down his throat, then chest. He nearly sucks hard enough on his nipple that Oswald almost knees him. But Edward only resumes the trail down, and over, his expanded stomach.

 

Edward unbuttons his trousers and pulls them off of Oswald. He slips off Oswald’s silk boxers while kissing along his bad hip.

 

The touch of Edward’s tongue on his numb cock tingles. But he feels nothing else. Oswald covers his eyes with his arm feeling tears burning them.

 

“Stop, please, Edward.”

 

“Oz? Am I hurting you?”

 

“No.” Oswald shakes his head. “It is not you, I swear it. It's me.”

 

“Are you… breaking up with me?”

 

As though this had never been anything other than a friends with benefits affair. And they were not even friends.

 

“I had a physical recently, the physician found something irregular in my heart. She placed me on a prescription.” Oswald braces himself. “One of the side effects is impotence and erectile dysfunction.”

 

This is it. The Riddler will want nothing to do with him now.

 

“Your heart? Oz? Is it serious?” He almost sounds worried.

 

He feels Edward shift up the bed, he places his hand over Oswald’s heart as though to reassure himself that it still beats. Or so, Oswald can almost believe.

 

“The good doctor assures me it is a precaution only.” Oswald chortles. “Or perhaps she was afraid giving bad news to the Penguin could be hazardous to her own health.”

 

“And this may be a permanent effect?”

 

“Yes.” The doctor had actually told him that the side effect may be temporary, but she could make no promises. However, Oswald sees no reason to put off the inevitable. A clean break is best. “I think you should leave, Riddler.”

 

“I will leave if that is what you wish. But I will not leave if you believe that is what I want.” Edward lifts his arm. “Look at me and tell me you want me to leave.”

 

Oswald wants to want him to leave. But he cannot lie. He is much too selfish for that.

 

“Let us not pretend that this was ever anything more than what it was, Nygma. We are enemies with benefits. Nothing more. And without the benefits of such an arrangement there is no reason for this to continue.”

 

Edward throws his head back and laughs. “You silly old bird brain.” He flicks Oswald on the tip of his nose. “We’ve been shagging for almost twenty years, and you think you are nothing but a frenemy with benefits to me?”

 

“Can you honestly tell me you would be satisfied with half a lover, Eddie?”

 

“We’ll just have to creative.” Edward winks. “To be honest, I’m more concerned about this.” He kisses the area above Oswald’s heart. “I am the only one allowed to kill you.”

 

“And I have the scars to prove it.”

 

“Do you know why I could never kill you?” Edward traces the scar on Oswald’s abdomen with his fingers. “You are not allowed to die before me, Oswald. I will not allow it.” He lays his head over his heart, and wraps his arms around him.

 

“I am not dying, Edward.”

 

“What else did the doctor have to say?”

 

“The usual. Eat less. Move more. Stop drinking. Quit smoking.” Oswald pauses. “I am not changing for anyone, Edward. Not even you.”

 

Oswald would be lying if he said he is not frightened. But he is going to live, and die, on his own terms. No one else.

 

“Until I am measured I am not known. Yet how you miss me when I have flown. I am wasted and squandered. I can be sold but never bought. I am more priceless than gold. Yet I weigh nothing. Though I weigh heavily. What am I?” Edward asks.

Oswald sighs. “Time.”

 

“Always less, though we always believe we have more.”

 

Oswald wraps his arms around Edward and holds him. It is a little uncomfortable. His good leg is trapped below Edward and has gone numb, and his bad hip is stuck at an awkward angle. And Edward is rather heavy on his chest. But he would not want to move even if he could.

 

This is nice. Edward does not often stay around long enough to cuddle after sex, and there is usually little to no foreplay prior to the act.

 

He pulls the blankets over them.

 

They fall asleep cuddling like that.

 

When Oswald wakes, Edward is gone. And all the liquor in the penthouse over the lounge has been poured down the sinks, only the empty bottles left behind as evidence. Even his best wine.

 

If it were anyone else other than the Riddler he would have them killed for that alone.

 

Oswald unlocks the safe that holds his collection of imported cigars. The lock appears untouched, but he knows the Riddler has never encountered a puzzle he could not solve. He opens the door and finds nothing out of place.

 

He removes a box in the middle of a stack and flips it open. It is empty. The only thing inside the box is a single plastic green question mark. And he knows without looking that each box is the same.

 

The Riddler never takes a challenge he expects to lose and it would appear he has decided to take the Penguin’s health on as his next challenge.

 

Oswald holds the plastic piece up to his face and smiles.

 

At least he is no longer trying to kill him. Perhaps this is one game he would not mind losing to the Riddler.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic could definitely be better imo. But I feel like I have edited it as much as I can. I really like the idea here and might revisit it after this challenge when there's more time.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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